China-ledPastMajor
July 23, 2020
Tianwen-1 launches with the Zhurong rover
China opens the timeline with its first independent Mars mission carrying an orbiter, lander, and rover stack.
Gateway architecture
NASA
Timeline
Narrative eras, live phases, and the content that hangs off each race marker.
The public timeline is now organized like an editorial index instead of a flat chronology. Eras provide the long arc, phases give the current frame, and anchored explainers sit directly next to the moments they clarify.
Timeline
Narrative eras
3
Published events
11
Anchored items
8
Visual archive
Every major surface now gets a dedicated media block so pages read like separate editions, not a single continuous feed.
Source
Photography and concept imagery throughout this pass are sourced from NASA.
Era
Mars Race
4 published events are currently grouped under this era.
Phase
First Robotic Wave
USA-ledPastMinor
July 30, 2020
Perseverance launches for Mars
NASA sends its next flagship rover and helicopter technology demo toward Jezero Crater one week later.
USA-ledPastMajor
February 18, 2021
Perseverance lands on Mars
NASA reaches Jezero Crater and begins the sample caching era with Ingenuity riding along.
China-ledPastMajor
May 15, 2021
Zhurong lands on Mars
China becomes the second country to operate a rover on Mars with the Tianwen-1 landing sequence.
Phase
Sample Return Race
USA-ledProjectedMajor
TBD
U.S. Mars sample return architecture
NASA's Mars sample return effort remains strategically important, but its actual flight sequence is still unsettled.
China-ledProjectedMajor
TBD
Tianwen-3 Mars sample return
China is targeting a Mars sample-return campaign, but the exact operational timeline still carries visible uncertainty.
Era
Lunar Return
2 published events are currently grouped under this era.
Phase
Artemis Build-Up
USA-ledPastMajor
November 16, 2022
Artemis I completes its lunar test flight
NASA's uncrewed SLS and Orion mission closes out the first full-stack Artemis test around the Moon.
USA-ledUpcomingMajor
April 2026
Artemis II crewed lunar flyby
NASA's first crewed Artemis mission is the next major U.S. lunar gating event.
Anchored coverage
News
NASA and commercial partners tighten the lunar logistics timeline
Cargo, depots, and surface support systems are becoming the pacing layer beneath crewed ambitions.
News
Cislunar infrastructure is becoming a central strategic theme
Power, communications, and orbital support layers are no longer background details.
Programs
Artemis in one page
A compact briefing on the architecture, goals, and bottlenecks behind NASA's lunar return effort.
Phase
Chang'e Acceleration
China-ledPastMajor
June 25, 2024
Chang'e 6 returns far-side lunar samples
China completes the first-ever sample return from the far side of the Moon.
China-ledUpcomingMajor
2026
Chang'e 7 south-pole mission
China targets a robotic lunar south-pole mission as the next step toward a broader polar architecture.
Era
Deep Space Expansion
1 published event are currently grouped under this era.
Phase
Interplanetary Cadence
China-ledPastMinor
May 29, 2025
Tianwen-2 launches
China extends its deep-space cadence with an asteroid sample-return mission that also tests long-range operations.